I hate to cheapen my cudos with another request... But how about some mentor spirit support? Maybe with a list to choose from and appropriate modifiers?

Put some xml nodes together that might help out with the above request. Figured why not share the fun. I'm not sure how you'd want to calculate the appropriate modifiers in Chummer itself, but here's the xml nodes.

[ Spoiler ]

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?><chummer> <version>-993</version> <categories> <category>Animal</category> <category>Other</category> </categories> <mentors> <mentor> <name>Adversary</name> <category>Other</category> <advantage_desc>+2 dice for Manipulation spells, +2 dice to either Counterspelling or Banishing Tests (player must choose one).</advantage_desc> <disadvantage__desc>Adversary magicians have issues with authority. If the Adversary magician is given orders or instructions which do not match his own desires and intentions, he must make a Willpower + Charisma (3) Test or refuse the order, going with his own decision instead, regardless of the consequences.</disadvantage_desc> <source>SM</source> </mentor> <mentor> <name>Artificer</name> <category>Other</category> <advantage_desc>+2 dice for Manipulation spells, +2 dice to Enchanting Tests.</advantage_desc> <disadvantage__desc>Artificer magicians are easily distracted by new and unusual finds or a persistent problem. When faced with something he has never seen before or a problem he can not easily solve, the Artificer magician must make a Willpower + Charisma (3) Test to resist examining the situation at length. The magician will not put his life in danger just to examine a new device, but he will take the next safe opportunity to do so.</disadvantage_desc> <source>SM</source> </mentor> <mentor> <name>Bear</name> <category>Animal</category> <advantage_desc>+2 dice for Health spells, +2 dice for resisting Physical damage.</advantage_desc> <disadvantage__desc>Bear magicians can go berserk when wounded (taking Physical damage) in combat or if someone under their care is badly injured. Make a Willpower + Charisma Test (wound modifiers apply). The character goes berserk for 3 turns, minus 1 turn per hit; 3 or more hits avert the berserk rage entirely. A berserk magician will go after the attacker(s) without regard for her own safety. If the magician incapacitates a target before the time is up, the berserk fury dissipates.</disadvantage_desc> <source>SR4</source> </mentor> <mentor> <name>Bull</name> <category>Animal</category> <advantage_desc>+2 dice for Combat spells, +2 dice for Leadership Tests.</advantage_desc> <disadvantage__desc>Bull magicians are impatient and stubborn, and insist on getting their way. If the Bull magician does not get what he wants, he must make a Willpower + Charisma (3) Test or stubbornly dig in his heels and demand compliance.</disadvantage_desc> <source>SM</source> </mentor> <mentor> <name>Cat</name> <category>Animal</category> <advantage_desc>+2 dice for Illusion spells, +2 dice to either Gymnastics or Infiltration Tests (character must choose one).</advantage_desc> <disadvantage__desc>Cat magicians toy with their prey. Unless the Cat magician makes a Willpower + Charisma (3) Test, she cannot make an attack that will incapacitate her target (i.e., a Combat spellmust be cast with a Force/damage level that will not disable). If the magician is wounded, all this playing around stops.</disadvantage_desc> <source>SR4</source> </mentor> <mentor> <name>Crocodile</name> <category>Animal</category> <advantage_desc>+2 dice for Health spells, +2 dice to Survival Tests.</advantage_desc> <disadvantage__desc>Crocodile’s magicians understand that everything comes with a price. They are truly mercenary in their outlook and must make a Willpower + Charisma (3) Test to offer anything without compensation, no matter how small.</disadvantage_desc> <source>SM</source> </mentor> <mentor> <name>Dark Goddess</name> <category>Other</category> <advantage_desc>+2 dice for Combat and Health spells.</advantage_desc> <disadvantage__desc>Ruled by extremes of both creation and destruction, followers of the Dark Goddess often relish in confrontation. They must make a Willpower + Charisma (3) Test to avoid escalating a conflict, no matter how small, into a major clash, whether physical, mental, or social.</disadvantage_desc> <source>SM</source> </mentor> <mentor> <name>Dark King</name> <category>Other</category> <advantage_desc>+2 dice for Perception and Assensing Tests, +2 dice for spirits of man.</advantage_desc> <disadvantage__desc>–1 die to resist Physical damage.</disadvantage_desc> <source>SR4</source> </mentor> <mentor> <name>Dog</name> <category>Animal</category> <advantage_desc>+2 dice for Detection spells, +2 dice for spirits of man.</advantage_desc> <disadvantage__desc>A Dog magician is stubbornly loyal. She can never leave someone behind, betray her comrades, or let another sacrifice themselves in her place without making a successful Willpower + Charisma (3) Test.</disadvantage_desc> <source>SR4</source> </mentor> <mentor> <name>Dragon</name> <category>Animal</category> <advantage_desc>+2 dice for Manipulation spells, +2 dice for Negotiation Tests.</advantage_desc> <disadvantage__desc>Dragon magicians are single-minded and confident to a fault, as well as sore losers. A Dragon magician must make a Willpower + Charisma (3) Test to follow advice or orders that are not their own, or to accept a defeat gracefully.</disadvantage_desc> <source>SM</source> </mentor> <mentor> <name>Dragon Slayer</name> <category>Other</category> <advantage_desc>+2 dice for Combat spells, +2 dice for tests with one Social skill of choice.</advantage_desc> <disadvantage__desc>If a Dragonslayer magician breaks a promise, whether by choice or by accident, she takes –1 die to all actions until she fulfills the promise or otherwise atones for her error.</disadvantage_desc> <source>SR4</source> </mentor> <mentor> <name>Eagle</name> <category>Animal</category> <advantage_desc>+2 dice for Detection spells, +2 dice for air spirits.</advantage_desc> <disadvantage__desc>Eagle magicians receive the Allergy (pollutants, mild) negative quality (p. 94; they do not receive bonus BP).</disadvantage_desc> <source>SR4</source> </mentor> <mentor> <name>Fire-Bringer</name> <category>Other</category> <advantage_desc>+2 dice for Manipulation spells, +2 dice for fire spirits</advantage_desc> <disadvantage__desc>–1 die for Illusion spells.</disadvantage_desc> <source>SR4</source> </mentor> <mentor> <name>Great Mother</name> <category>Other</category> <advantage_desc>+2 dice to Health spells, +2 dice for earth or plant spirits (player must choose one).</advantage_desc> <disadvantage__desc>–1 die for Combat spells.</disadvantage_desc> <source>SM</source> </mentor> <mentor> <name>Gryphon</name> <category>Animal</category> <advantage_desc>+2 dice for Binding Tests, +2 dice for Leadership Tests.</advantage_desc> <disadvantage__desc>Gryphon magicians must have a Charisma attribute of 4 or greater and are expected to be skilled and wise leaders. Gryphon magicians must make a Willpower + Charisma (3) Test to attack anyone other than the most potent adversary in combat, or to accept any assistance in defeating that foe.</disadvantage_desc> <source>SM</source> </mentor> <mentor> <name>Horned Man</name> <category>Other</category> <advantage_desc>+2 dice for Illusion spells, +2 dice for guidance spirits or plant spirits (player must choose one).</advantage_desc> <disadvantage__desc>Horned Man magicians know no boundaries for acceptable social behavior. As such, they suffer –1 die on all Social Tests unless they are dealing with those who are just as free-thinking.</disadvantage_desc> <source>SM</source> </mentor> <mentor> <name>Horse</name> <category>Animal</category> <advantage_desc>+2 dice for Health spells, +2 dice for beast spirits.</advantage_desc> <disadvantage__desc>Horse magicians do not tolerate confinement or isolation well. If bound to one location, either physically or through coercion, or otherwise cut off from others for an extended period, the Horse magician must make a Willpower + Charisma (3) Test or become irrational and self-destructive for 3 turns minus 1 turn per hit gained. While irrational, the Horse magician will do all they can to escape the confinement.</disadvantage_desc> <source>SM</source> </mentor> <mentor> <name>Lion</name> <category>Animal</category> <advantage_desc>+2 dice for Combat spells, +2 dice for Banishing Tests.</advantage_desc> <disadvantage__desc>Lion magicians refuse to back down from challenges. A Lion magician must make a Willpower + Charisma (3) Test to forgive a slight, back down from a fight, or refuse a challenge.</disadvantage_desc> <source>SM</source> </mentor> <mentor> <name>Moon Maiden</name> <category>Other</category> <advantage_desc>+2 dice to Illusion spells, +2 dice to Negotiation Tests.</advantage_desc> <disadvantage__desc>–1 die for Combat spells.</disadvantage_desc> <source>SR4</source> </mentor> <mentor> <name>Mountain</name> <category>Other</category> <advantage_desc>+2 dice for Counterspelling Tests, +2 dice for earth spirits.</advantage_desc> <disadvantage__desc>When a Mountain magician makes a plan, she sticks to it. The magician must make a Willpower + Charisma (3) Test to abandon a planned course of action in favor of a new one. If she fails, she will endeavor to continue with her original plan, even if it means going on alone.</disadvantage_desc> <source>SR4</source> </mentor> <mentor> <name>Oak</name> <category>Other</category> <advantage_desc>+2 dice for Plant spirits, +2 dice for Arcana Tests.</advantage_desc> <disadvantage__desc>If an Oak magician fails to protect or guard someone or something important to him, he suffers a –1 dice pool modifier on all actions until he atones for the failure.</disadvantage_desc> <source>SM</source> </mentor> <mentor> <name>Owl</name> <category>Animal</category> <advantage_desc>+2 dice for Perception and Assensing Tests, +2 dice for spirits of man or guidance spirits (player must choose one).</advantage_desc> <disadvantage__desc>–1 die for Combat spells.</disadvantage_desc> <source>SM</source> </mentor> <mentor> <name>Phoenix</name> <category>Animal</category> <advantage_desc>+2 dice for Health spells, +2 dice for fire spirits.</advantage_desc> <disadvantage__desc>–1 die for Binding Tests.</disadvantage_desc> <source>SM</source> </mentor> <mentor> <name>Rat</name> <category>Animal</category> <advantage_desc>+2 dice for Infiltration Tests, +2 dice for resisting disease and poisons</advantage_desc> <disadvantage__desc>A Rat magician must make a Willpower + Charisma (3) Test to not immediately flee or seek cover whenever caught in a combat situation. If there is nowhere to flee, then she is forcedto fight.</disadvantage_desc> <source>SR4</source> </mentor> <mentor> <name>Raven</name> <category>Animal</category> <advantage_desc>+2 dice for Manipulation spells, +2 dice for air spirits.</advantage_desc> <disadvantage__desc>A Raven magician must make a Willpower + Charisma (3) Test to avoid exploiting someone else’s misfortune to her own advantage.</disadvantage_desc> <source>SR4</source> </mentor> <mentor> <name>Sea</name> <category>Other</category> <advantage_desc>+2 dice for water spirits, +2 dice for Swimming Tests.</advantage_desc> <disadvantage__desc>–1 die on Negotiations Tests.</disadvantage_desc> <source>SR4</source> </mentor> <mentor> <name>Seductress</name> <category>Other</category> <advantage_desc>+2 dice for Illusion spells, +2 dice for Con Tests.</advantage_desc> <disadvantage__desc>Seductresses must succeed in a Willpower + Charisma (3) Test to avoid pursuing a vice or indulgence (drugs, BTLs, sex, and so on) when it is made available.</disadvantage_desc> <source>SR4</source> </mentor> <mentor> <name>Shark</name> <category>Animal</category> <advantage_desc>+2 dice for Combat spells, +2 dice for water spirits.</advantage_desc> <disadvantage__desc>Shark magicians can go berserk in combat (similar to Bear magicians) when they are wounded or when they wound an opponent (p. 200). A berserk Shark character may continue to attack the body of her last victim instead of moving on to attack a new target, if the player chooses.</disadvantage_desc> <source>SR4</source> </mentor> <mentor> <name>Sky Father</name> <category>Other</category> <advantage_desc>+2 dice for Detection and Manipulation spells.</advantage_desc> <disadvantage__desc>Pride is the greatest weakness for followers of Sky Father. If insulted in any way, they must make a Willpower + Charisma (3) Test or they will aggressively confront or retaliate against the source of the slight. Sky Father magicians are also vulnerable to flattery, and suffer a –1 dice pool modifier for resisting Con attempts.</disadvantage_desc> <source>SM</source> </mentor> <mentor> <name>Spider</name> <category>Animal</category> <advantage_desc>+2 dice for Detection and Illusion spells.</advantage_desc> <disadvantage__desc>Spider magicians are not quick on their feet. They must make a Willpower + Charisma (3) Test to make any quick decisions in situations they have not planned for.</disadvantage_desc> <source>SM</source> </mentor> <mentor> <name>Snake</name> <category>Animal</category> <advantage_desc>+2 dice for Detection spells, +2 to Binding Tests.</advantage_desc> <disadvantage__desc>–1 die for Combat spells.</disadvantage_desc> <source>SR4</source> </mentor> <mentor> <name>Sun</name> <category>Other</category> <advantage_desc>+2 dice for fire spirits or guardian spirits (player must choose one), +2 dice for Combat spells or Healing spells (player must choose one).</advantage_desc> <disadvantage__desc>Sun expects perfection from his followers, or at least a harsh lesson for them if they fail. Sun magicians must spend 2 points of Edge to negate a glitch or downgrade a critical glitch.</disadvantage_desc> <source>SM</source> </mentor> <mentor> <name>Thunderbird</name> <category>Animal</category> <advantage_desc>+2 dice for air spirits, +2 dice for Intimidation Tests</advantage_desc> <disadvantage__desc>A Thunderbird magician must succeed in a Willpower + Charisma (3) Test to avoid responding to an insult in kind.</disadvantage_desc> <source>SR4</source> </mentor> <mentor> <name>Trickster</name> <category>Other</category> <advantage_desc>+2 dice for Illusion spells, +2 dice for Con Tests.</advantage_desc> <disadvantage__desc>A Trickster character must make a Willpower + Charisma (3) Test to resist an opportunity to pull a clever trick or prank, even if it is to the detriment of herself or her friends.</disadvantage_desc> <source>SR4</source> </mentor> <mentor> <name>Wise Warrior</name> <category>Other</category> <advantage_desc>+2 dice for Combat and Detection spells</advantage_desc> <disadvantage__desc>–1 die to all tests if acting dishonorably, until the character atones for her action.</disadvantage_desc> <source>SR4</source> </mentor> <mentor> <name>Wolf</name> <category>Animal</category> <advantage_desc>+2 dice for Combat spells, +2 dice for beast spirits.</advantage_desc> <disadvantage__desc>A Wolf magician must succeed in a Willpower + Charisma (3) Test to retreat from a fight.</disadvantage_desc> <source>SR4</source> </mentor> </mentors></chummer>

whatevs: it looks like the Armor Encumbrance for the Initiative situation you mentioned is being calculated correctly from my understanding of the rules. If I have a character with BOD 1, REA 5, INT 4 and put enough armor on him to effectively drop his REA to 1, his INI should still be 5 (1 REA + 4 INT). The way it's written makes it sound as though your INI decreases by your REA went down. You character is still intelligent enough to act, but too overburdened with their poor armor choice to be as effective. I think the "may affect Initiative" bit of text is in the description since you could have a character with 1 REA, in which case your INI would not be affected. Is this correct?

Looks that way. Good call! Forgot about intuition being part of initiative.

Quick Note About your Tooltip for Ballistic and Impact Armor - Your tooltip says that there's a -1 to agility, might want to add that there's a - 1 to rea as well. Not major though, as per your post above, it looks as though it's being calculated correctly.

Requests:- list of pre-gen knoweldge skills to choose from, or better yet, the option to add my own to choose from <see 'awesome use of xml' above (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) >

Okay, working on some xml nodes for the above request. It won't be this weekend, but I should be able to provide a nice list. Here's a languages list. I used (mostly) the list of 100 most common languages on wikipedia. P.S. Spoiler code tags aren't working in my browser for some reason, and I'm out of time, so sorry in advance for the wall of text. Edit: Ah, that's better

Thanks for the data, whatevs. I've rolled the Language stuff into skills.xml. No idea why I didn't see just putting Knowledge Skill stuff in there before. Sometimes it's the obvious stuff that's hard to see. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) I'm hoping to get Mentor Spirits in for this weekend, too.

Looks good, are you all set with the different specializations? I think you used <spec></spec> in your original skills xml. I used that format above, so you should be able to cut/copy/paste if you want to.

************** JIT Debugging **************To enable just-in-time (JIT) debugging, the .config file for thisapplication or computer (machine.config) must have thejitDebugging value set in the system.windows.forms section.The application must also be compiled with debuggingenabled.

Looks good, are you all set with the different specializations? I think you used <spec></spec> in your original skills xml. I used that format above, so you should be able to cut/copy/paste if you want to.

Yup, the specs are great. I used everything you provided. I just did a straight copy of everything you gave me and pasted in the few replacements once I realised I can just put them all in the skills.xml file. I did a straight copy with the Mentors and added in the Toxic Mentors as well. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

************** JIT Debugging **************To enable just-in-time (JIT) debugging, the .config file for thisapplication or computer (machine.config) must have thejitDebugging value set in the system.windows.forms section.The application must also be compiled with debuggingenabled.

Yup, the specs are great. I used everything you provided. I just did a straight copy of everything you gave me and pasted in the few replacements once I realised I can just put them all in the skills.xml file. I did a straight copy with the Mentors and added in the Toxic Mentors as well. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Nice! Forgot about them. Are you going to be able to add the mentor bonuses on the back end?

I'll send a list of some usefull knowledge skills in noded-up xml format.

Can't handle +X dice for casting Spells at the moment. Not sure if this is something I'll be throwing in just yet. I'm looking at getting support in for the +X bonuses to Skills for Mentor Spirits though. It might make it into this weekend's update but not 100% certain.

Leoric: I have that ESS bit fixed up which will be in this weekend's update. This only applied to Cyberware/Bioware that let you pick a Rating and have their ESS cost tied to it... in regions that use "," to separate decimals places. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

The original intention with Mystic Adepts was to simply leave it as is. Whatever you don't spend on Adept Power Points is what you presumably have leftover to work with the Magcian. I'm now seeing a fault in my thinking after re-reading the Mystic Adept portion though (and having never played a Mystic Adept now that I think back). A Mystic Adept with MAG 5 who puts 3 of those into Powers and uses the rest for Magician would effectively have MAG 2 for the purposes of determine their Ability bonus for Skills. This seems to only affect dice pool though and nothing else. Is that correct?

Can't handle +X dice for casting Spells at the moment. Not sure if this is something I'll be throwing in just yet. I'm looking at getting support in for the +X bonuses to Skills for Mentor Spirits though. It might make it into this weekend's update but not 100% certain.

One of the things about mentor bonuses is that they're basically free skill specializations. Ex. +2 detection spells is really just a detection specialization of the spellcasting skill. So if you can trigger the addition of a specialization (even if there's already one added by the user) when you select a mentor spirit, you're in business. All you have to watch out for is the same specialization already being there, in which case there would just be two specializations for that skill at +4 total. Also, you would have to let users add another specialization for the affected skill (in this case spellcasting) via the skills window.

Some mentors have negatives that aren't abstract, and will require a negative modifier ex. -1 to combat spells. In this case, the same logic applies but with a -1 as a specialization 'bonus'. Rules about user still being able to add specializations to the affect skill via skills menu would still need to apply.

They're not technically Skill Groups in the same way as Active Skills (you can't take the Language Skill Group and get Rating X in all Languages), so I put that into Category. So the Category for Knowledge Skills can be "Academic", "Interest", "Language", "Professional", and "Street".

Something odd I've noticed here. When you're adding knowledge skills to a character, after the fifth entry it puts a gap between #5 and #6. It keeps doing this, with the gap getting larger each time you add something new.

Also, the armored clothing packages from Arsenal aren't adding together properly. I expect this one is tricky to handle, though.

I believe I have the Arsenal Clothing stuff figured out and implemented. It should be in the next preview release. The Knowledge Skill one kind of hurts my brain - you'd think a position of 0 would be a fixed location, but apparently not. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif) It should be fixed in the next release as well.

Shadowalker: I'm hoping your problem is fixed in the next release as well. This might be a part of the resolution issues I was having.

Commlinks don't have the option of improving their Response or Signal ratings. (SR4A, p. 222)

Some commlink add-ons (such as sim modules) should be considered "plug-ins". Software should probably be treated similarly, so that they don't clutter the gear list. One possible add-on is the "basic software" package (SR4A, p. 232), for non-hackers.

The list of purchased items could stand to have a couple extra columns; definitely one showing the price, perhaps also one for the items' ratings. Same goes for augmentations, perhaps with an Essence cost as well.

The status bar at the bottom could also be expanded, showing not only Build Points remaining, but also Essence and money.

I tend to avoid making my stuff open source after a number of bad experiences with it. I like the idea, but I'm a little protective of my code and like to know where everything is and what it's doing. Too many times I've had people go in and just make a bunch of changes for some unknown reason without discussing the impacts, breaking a bunch of things in the process, and writing it in some wacky way instead of following a standard.

I can, however, promise that if I ever lose interest and/or stop developing this and/or get smacked by Catalyst that I will release the source code so that others can continue the work. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

I found a small bug in the qualities section. When selecting the Lucky quality, it isn't increasing the maximum edge attribute. Also edge is incorrectly listed under the Exceptional Attribute quality, but it does increase the edge maximum properly as if one had the Lucky quality. It's not a big deal to me as the qualities cost the same, but it's something I wanted to point out.

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